It’s not unusual to get a complimentary gift when you buy a new bike or accessories from one of the larger online or physical retailers.

A pedal spanner, a multi-tool or some sweets usually go down a treat when they arrive with your purchase and might even inspire a degree of customer loyalty.

Some freebies, however, are less appealing than others.

When 25-year old Lindsey Rhodes from Sheffield bought a £90 Disney Princess kiddie bike for her 3-year old daughter Mia at her local Argos store, the retailer thoughtfully included a free pet…possibly.

Sadly the creature, a rat, was well past its expiry date and dropped, lifeless, from the box when Lindsey’s friend went to assemble the bike, reports The Star.

Said Lindsey: “Mia’s godmother, my friend Lauren Ingle, had offered to put the bike together and had started to unpack it when the rat fell out.

“We were horrified and quickly dragged the kids away. I’m just so glad Mia didn’t open the box.”

Lauren said of the expired rodent: “It was absolutely disgusting and it made me physically sick. It smelt atrocious. It must have been in there for ages.”

Argos offered Lindsey a £50 gift voucher as compensation for their error, an offer which has been accepted.

A spokesman for Argos told The Star: “A colleague in customer services has contacted Mrs Rhodes to apologise for any distress caused and discuss an appropriate gesture of goodwill as we conduct a thorough internal investigation.

“We are a large company and we are aware that, from time to time, things can go wrong. When this happens we try to improve our systems and services to ensure issues of this nature do not happen again.”

And apparently, although the mother was horrified that her child might have opened the box and seen the rat, she is happy to have the child (and her baby sibling) pose for the camera a couple of feet from the rat and with full sight of it.

Can't help but feel argos are a bit hard done by here - rats get everywhere, especially in warehouses, and the thing probably just ran in as the box was being packed and then got shut in and died. It's unfortunate, but its a bike, not food. A £50 voucher seems like a pretty good deal - I'll happily get a rat with my next bike if I get £50 for it...

This is on its way to becoming another urban myth along with the Kentucky Fried Rat. The thing is, did the woman not notice the smell as soon as she picked up the box? Cardboard boxes are not particularly airtight.

BTW - as a former local newspaper photographer I can verify that I did indeed take my share of angry people pics. The editor's idea of a good photo was to get as many people as possible in each photo and, if it was a negateive story, get them looking well brassed-off. Needless to say, we had our artistic differences.